National Council Approves Partial Pension: Flexible Transition into Retirement

The National Council passed a small pension reform on Thursday. With the new partial pension, older employees will be able to receive part of their pension while continuing to work reduced hours starting next year. In return, partial retirement will be restricted and a sustainability mechanism to stabilize the pension system will be established. The FPÖ completely rejected the reform, while the Greens only supported the partial pension.

Partial retirement will be restricted

The reform aims to keep employees in the workforce longer. The partial pension can be taken as soon as one is entitled to an old-age pension. Work must be reduced by at least 25 and at most 75 percent, with the employer's consent required. At the same time, partial retirement will be restricted. It can only be claimed as long as there is no pension entitlement. This is a maximum of three years instead of the previous five. Additionally, due to austerity measures, the state wage compensation will be temporarily reduced from 90 to 80 percent from 2026 to 2028.

Partial pension as a sustainability mechanism

The partial pension is an opportunity for people to transition more flexibly from employment to retirement, explained Social Minister Korinna Schumann (SPÖ) in parliament. "State pensions remain secure," she assured. To ensure they remain so in the future, the sustainability mechanism has been installed. If a predetermined budget path is exceeded by 2030, the government will be required to take measures - options include a more difficult access to the corridor pension, contribution increases, raising the retirement age, or lower adjustments. However, Schumann assumes that the budget path will be adhered to and the mechanism will therefore not come into effect. To bring the actual retirement age closer to the statutory one, the support of companies that hire or retain older employees is also needed, Schumann appealed once again.

FPÖ and Greens voted against reform

The FPÖ saw a significant deterioration for future pensioners in the entire reform. "You want nothing more than to push up the retirement age," accused FPÖ social spokesperson Dagmar Belakowitsch of the three-party coalition, ultimately aiming for work until the age of 70. The opinion of the Greens was more nuanced. While they supported the core element - the partial pension - as a "very sensible thing," they rejected the reduction of partial retirement and the sustainability mechanism and therefore voted against the overall package. "We will not achieve secure pensions through the umpteenth sustainability paper tiger," but only through high employment, good incomes, and measures to keep people in employment longer, said Green MP Markus Koza.

ÖVP club chairman August Wöginger described the partial pension as a "win-win situation" for employees. The goal is to bring the actual retirement age closer to the statutory one more quickly and to increase the employment rate. This is a priority over raising the statutory retirement age, emphasized Wöginger. NEOS club chairman Yannick Shetty spoke of a "historic day." The reform is only the beginning and not the end of reforms in the pension sector. Through the sustainability mechanism, a change of course in the pension system has been initiated for the first time in 20 years, leaving more money for education, integration, and climate protection in the future.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.